Out in the Wilderness

OLD TESTAMENT

Genesis 1:1–5

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

PSALM

Psalm 29

             1       Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,

      ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
            2       Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
      worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.
             3       The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
      the God of glory thunders,
      the LORD, over many waters.
            4       The voice of the LORD is powerful;
      the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
             5       The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
      the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
            6       He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
      and Sirion like a young wild ox.
             7       The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
            8       The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
      the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
             9       The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth
      and strips the forests bare,
      and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
             10       The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
      the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.
            11       May the LORD give strength to his people!
      May the LORD bless his people with peace!

EPISTLE

Romans 6:1–11

6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

GOSPEL

Mark 1:4–11

 4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.

Sermon

Grace Mercy and Peace ...

 Our text comes from the Gospel of Mark.

 John the Baptist is often overlooked, but he had an interesting background.  We know from Luke that he was the Son of Zechariah, and he is the subject of the Song of Zechariah, when Zechariah received his voice back and he was filled with the holy spirit and prophesied:

You, My child shall be called The prophet of the Most High,

For you will go before the Lord to prepare His way,

To give his people knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins.

And he became known as the voice of one crying in the wilderness spoken about by the prophet Isaiah. 

 ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ”

He was known throughout all of Judea, so that even though he was in the wilderness, people still flocked to hear him preach, teach, and see him baptize.  We know that at least Andrew, the brother of Peter and  one of the 12 disciples, was originally a disciple of John. We also know from other accounts that church leaders and laymen came equally to see this man.

But he was also a shaggy man, dressed in Camelhair and leather, eating locusts and honey, and his place of teaching was the riverbank of the Jordan.  He appeared in the apparel that many of the prophets that went before him wore, eating the food that came to him, and baptized the flowing waters of a tiny river.

He was popular, but he wouldn’t have exactly measured up to today’s idea of popular preachers.  Popular preachers who are immaculately groomed, in expensive churches, preaching that if you believe if Jesus Christ you will never face hunger or pain again.  No, he was not preaching this, he was preaching about a baptism of repentance, and one who would come after him who he was unworthy of untying his sandals.

What made him so interesting that people flocked to him?  And why would we even care today?  We care because it helps us understand the question, “What is repentance?”  AND, we care because Jesus’ baptism by John is one of the few accounts that is recorded in all four gospels.  The Lord’s Supper and the resurrection aren’t even recorded in all four Gospels.  Jesus had no need of repentance and yet he was baptized by John, so why?  Christ came and was washed in the Jordan, so that all Christians may be recognized by God.

As interesting as John the Baptist was, I don’t know if he had come today, if I would have bothered to listen to him.  Let’s face it, if it isn’t easy to get to, most of us today don’t really bother trying to seek someone out.  We want things to come to us, without a whole lot of work on our part.  And who would really want to go out to hear some guy rant at you after walking all day.  Especially a guy that probably would have looked a bit like a raving madman. We might watch a clip or two off of YouTube or the evening news, but that’s about as much work I would want to put in… Unless I liked what I was hearing, and then I’m willing to put in a little more work to get there.  And while some things have changed, I don’t think attitudes have changed that much from john’s time.

People probably first started to come out to listen to John because he was a novelty.  They hadn’t seen someone dressed that terribly in a long time, the time of the prophets.  Just a side note, if anyone thinks they have it bad, or the bible is boring, read the Old Testament prophets.   They are proof that God has a sense of the theatrical and the dramatic.  Because people don’t listen very well, God made sure that people would pay attention.   That’s why Isaiah and the Baptizer wore Camelhair and leather, because God told them to.  So people would have wanted to know if maybe this was a return of the prophets.  The people of Israel hadn’t heard a prophet in 400 years, so the coming of a new one would be a big deal.  They kept coming though, because of what he was preaching and teaching.   A Baptism of Repentance.

People naturally want to be on the right side of God, because when God is for you who can be against you?  But we also know that the one who created Light and all good things is a good and Perfect God, Holy and Pure.  But being fallen and corrupt people we are unable to be perfect.   God knows this, yet he asks his people to be holy as I the Lord your God is holy.  How are we holy?  God gave his people the Ten Commandments, and for more detail, the Levitical laws that detailed how the Israelites were to live, act and be.   But his people were unable to keep these, not because the laws were unreasonable, because what is more reasonable than don’t murder, don’t take what isn’t yours, don’t lie, and honor the one you gives you life.  The Ten Commandments were pretty straightforward but we fail time and time again.  That is why John’s baptism of repentance is so important.

But what is repentance?  Is it simply saying I’m sorry?  It depends on what you’re sorry for, your you sorry that you did wrong, or that you got caught.  There have been plenty of times where if I’m with myself I know I was saying sorry more because I felt bad because got caught and not because I felt all that contrite about what I had done.  That type of apology, is more self righteous than about being repentant. If you have ever had a conversation and used the phrase, “I said I was sorry” you know exactly what I mean.  I’m sorry is not a magic spell that makes everyone happy, and repentance only guarantees a one way action, from you to the other person.  That person has to respond for forgiveness.

Repentance is instead, a turning about in action, a changing of the mindset.  One key part of the repentance that appears here in Mark that doesn’t quite translate into English is the understanding that the repentance comes from the work of God in our lives.  We cannot think of repentance as I have come to realize that I have done wrong, as if repentance requires my head.   That type of repentance leads us to think that I can keep doing whatever I feel like, and then just say, “Sorry” afterwards.  Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?  Instead it is more like taking a small child and turning them, so they are facing in a different direction. The child can squirm, but they have no choice of looking in that direction.  God grabs us and turn us so that our actions can no longer move in the same direction again.  Our repentance comes from simply listening to what God is calling us to do through the Holy Spirit.  If repentance only guarantees a one way action, from you to the other person, that other person has to respond for forgiveness.  But we don’t have to worry about if we will be forgiven when we are repentant, because God has already said I forgive you.

But why was Jesus Baptized?  John had already said that there was one that was coming that was greater than him.  This is coming from the man about whom Jesus would speak, “Among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” So then if Jesus is greater than the greatest man, why did he need to be baptized?  It was because Jesus followed in the ways of his father, so that all humanity would know the benefits of being called sons of God.  The baptism of Jesus is the first place where we see the Father Son and Holy Spirit in one place, the son in the water, the spirit as a dove, and the ripping open the heavens with the father’s voice, this is my son with whom I am well pleased.  And that is exactly what we want to hear, that God is pleased with us.

When we had the water poured over our heads, with the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” God was sending his Holy Spirit into our lives, turning us around so that we could be called sons of God.  We still have the gift of free will turn away from him, but he constantly is speaking through his Word reminding us that we have the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

God has made it easy for us to be right with him, because he does all the heavy lifting.  We are turned to him in repentance and he receives us through the Water and the Word, so that we can have life forever in his son Jesus Christ who live and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit now and forever. AMEN.

Goal:  Christ came and was washed in the Jordan, so that all Christians may be recognized by God.

Malady: People want to be right with God, but cannot do it on their own.

Means:  Through the waters of baptism we have been called children of God.